They hit the west coast last weekend, and now "The Big 4" will make the journey east for their second show together in The Bx. Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth & Anthrax will play Yankee Stadium on September 14th. According to Metallica's site, "tickets go on sale Friday, May 6 at 10:00 AM via www.ticketmaster.com. Met Club members should log in for more information about a special pre-sale starting on Wednesday, May 4. Yankees season ticket holders will have their own pre-sale, also on May 4, starting at noon."

Hopefully by the time the NYC show rolls aroundm Slayer will have founding member Jeff Hanneman back in the fold, though he did made a brief appearance in Indio last weekend...

Slayer hit the stage and even the sun appeared slightly scared as it sank behind the mountains. They were the hardest and most relentless band of the day. Dave Lombardo's double bass drums were thunderous, not so much supporting but propelling the music as Kerry King delivered frequent guitar-shredding solos...They played a new song "America" (sp?) that fit right alongside the classics. As he has been since February, Gary Holt of Exodus sat in for guitarist Jeff Hanneman who is suffering from necrotizing fasciitis in his arm. To the crowd's great delight, Hanneman appeared and played during the last two songs of the set, "South of Heaven" and "Angel of Death". -[Seattle Post-Intelligencer]

Check out a video of "Angel of Death", one of "Am I Evil" and a trailer for "The Big 4" show, below...

Coachella sold out in less than a week, but the festival that is going to occupy the same fairgrounds exactly one week later, goes on general sale Friday at 10am (presales happening now), and that is "The Big 4" which will bring together Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth and Anthrax ("together for the first and only time in the US") for one big Indio, California classic metal show on Saturday, April 23rd .

One week after that, Goldenvoice (also responsible for Coachella and The Big 4) will host its annual Stagecoach Festival at Empire Polo Field (same place). "California's Country Music Festival" is being headlined by people you probably don't care about, but will also include sets by names like Wanda Jackson, Loretta Lynn, the Punch Brothers, the Secret Sisters and Phosphorescent who is also playing Coachella. Tickets are on sale.

I unfortunately could not find a ticket link for Brochella. Full lineup (real poster) for Stagecoach, and a Big 4 video trailer, below...

"It has been a really long time since Long Island experienced a real heavy metal show. In fact, it is flat-out embarrassing and insulting to the fans and bands that it has been this long. Thanks to the demonic forces of the dark lord, Long Island was the place to be on Friday night when Slayer, Megadeth, and Anthrax invaded the Nassau Coliseum.

The "Big 3 of Thrash" performed on the Island together for the first time ever under the heading of the "American Carnage Tour" presented by Jagermeister. The artists, Dave Mustaine in particular, did not let fans forget that as he made at least 5 references to the sponsor during Megadeth's set."

Going into the show, one would think that Anthrax would be the weakest link. Let's face it, Anthrax is awesome but not of the same caliber as Slayer. The band must have had this in mind because Anthrax annihilated the Coliseum. Original frontman Joey Belladona could not have sounded any better. He was dead on. [Gears of Rock]

Testament opened the Meadowlands show to a progressively growing audience at 7PM. The band's 40 minute set featured output from their career, with a few nods to their latest From Formation to Damnation. Although I enjoyed their set somewhat, the sound was unintelligible; guitars were completely buried in the mix with only the highest leads bleeding through the mud. That said, Alex Skolnick still knows how to rip it, Chuck Billy plays a mean air guitar, and they definitely know how to incite a killer Wall of Death (check out the video below).

Normally a set by Megadeth wouldn't get my heart racing, but tonight was Rust in Peace in it's entirety so I was guaranteed some of my favorite Megadeth songs. The band, now with Dave Ellefson back in the fold, followed Testament by launching directly into the classic Rust In Peace opener "Holy Wars... The Punishment Due". Sporting the classic "biohazard" emblazoned drumkit from the "Hangar 18" video, the band continued through the LP in track order declaring declaring "That was Rust In Peace!" at the finish and retreating from stage momentarily for a quick costume change afterword. Megadeth then looped back to classics like "Peace Sells" and "Symphony of Destruction" before a reprise of "Holy Wars" to close out the set. Mustaine's voice was a bit buried in the mix from my perspective, a relief in some ways as when he did come through it was too high pitched and nasal for my liking.

Little has changed since the last time I saw Slayer. Jeff Hanneman is still sporting the baseball catcher's shin plates, rockin a Raiders jersey and has his Heineken-style (that reads Hanneman) guitar. Kerry King still looks like a cross between Junkyard Dog and a cast member of Road Warrior. Dave Lombardo is still one of the best drummers on the planet. But what had changed was Tom Araya, due to his recent back surgery: no more head on a swivel, doctor's orders. The thrashing Araya was missed, but that didn't affect the legend's searing set of Seasons In The Abyss (in order) followed by a short set of Slayer classics. Easily my favorite preformance from the night. Dave Lombardo is god.

Though tickets are still available for their date at the Izod Center in East Rutherford, NJ, the second leg of the American Carnage tour (Slayer + Megadeth) has been announced. That leg includes Nassau Coliseum on Oct 8th, and though tickets go on regular sale on July 23rd, they are currently on Live Nation presale through Thursday at 8PM. The password is "venue". Testament wont open the Nassau Coliseum show like they will at the Izod Center in August, but Anthrax will!

Megadeth and Slayer, who last toured the U.S. together 19 years ago on the "Clash of the Titans" extravaganza, have confirmed that they will each perform, start to finish, their 1990 releases - Slayer's world-wide, million-selling Seasons In The Abyss and Megadeth's Platinum Rust In Peace - on the upcoming Canadian and American Carnage Tours. ...With Slayer and Megadeth co-headlining, Testament will be Special Guest on all dates.

It had some hiccups, but now the Slayer, Megadeth, Testament tour is back on:

The American Carnage Tour, originally scheduled to take place in January and February, had to be put on hold due to Slayer's vocalist/bassist, Tom Araya's ongoing, minimally-invasive treatments for what was diagnosed as a Cervical Radiculopathy, an occupational hazard for the rocker who is known for aggressively swinging his long mane of hair while performing. Right after the first of the year, Araya made the difficult decision to undergo a surgical procedure, called an Anterior Cervical Discectomy with Fusion, a relatively routine practice with an excellent recovery rate. That surgery took place early last week.

"The doctors said that Tom's surgery went very smoothly and was a resounding success," said Rick Sales, long-time Slayer manager. "He's home now, doing really well, and he said the numbness in his fingers had already diminished considerably."

Shortly after the surgery, Slayer's Kerry King received a text from Tom: "Awake and feeling good, actually whatever he did, it feels better."

My mom used to see Slayer thrashing around on TV and would always say, "Those guys are going to hurt themselves!". The new dates happen in August, and are below.

The original set of March Slay/Mega/Testa dates have been replaced by Megadeth/Testament/Exodus dates, which unfortunately bypass NYC in favor of the home of Dunder-Mifflin (Scranton,PA). Normally I would find that new tour lineup only a smidge more than intriguing, but the bands have upped the ante by announcing that in honor of the 20th anniversary of Megadeth's classic Rust In Peace LP, the band will perform that LP in its entirety. What's more, Testament will join the fun by performing all of their classic The Legacy! No word so far as to whether Exodus will play Bonded By Blood (which they recently re-recorded) (and have performed in full in the recent past), but here's to hoping.

Some videos, Mega/Testa/Exo tour dates, and the new Slay/Mega/Testa tour dates which include the Izod Center on August 12th (no ticket info yet), are below...

As previously mentioned, Lady Gaga added two NYC shows at Radio City Music Hall making her grand total a crazy four nights in a row at the prestigious venue. Kid Cudi opens all of them. Tickets for the two new ones (1/23 & 1/24) are on sale (@ 10am).

Megadeth and Slayer will join forces to co-headline "American Carnage"... the first time that... [they] will have toured the U.S. together since 1991's epic "Clash of the Titans" tour. To celebrate that, and in recognition of the tough economic times that many of their fans are having, Megadeth and Slayer have decided to roll back the price of a chunk of tickets at every U.S. show to the "1991 price" of $10.00. These specially-priced tickets will be limited and when they're gone, they're gone.

$10 tickets, very cool... hopefully there is a substantial amount available. The tour includes February 11, 2010 at The Izod Center in East Rutherford, NJ; look for tickets to appear on Ticketmaster at some point. Slayer's new LP World Painted Blood is their second LP since reuniting the original lineup of Araya-King-Hanneman-Lombardo. If you were a fan of Christ Illusion (I definitely was), pick it up.

All tour dates and a video on the making of World Painted Blood, as well as a few classic Slayer vids are below...

Aggressive racing game, Motorstorm, was one of the most successful titles for the Playstation 3 in 2007 (selling over three million copies world wide). It was only natural then, that Sony Computer Entertainment would get a sequel out in 2008. Enter Motorstorm: Pacific Rift. The game recently hit shelves in the US at end of October and in the UK this past week. The TV spot announcing the new game brilliantly matched Motorstorm's crazy, edgy style of racing on tracks in exotic locations with the "authentic energy" of Gogol Bordello's "Wonderlust King." Watch the video of the commercial below. Gogol Bordello tour dates are HERE.

While Gogol did not make the in-game soundrack, David Bowie, Clutch, Megadeth, The Hives, Simian Mobile Disco, Death From Above 1979, and more all made the cut. Eight of the forty-five songs are exclusive to the game including a remix by Diplo of Nirvana's "Swap Meet" *.

Speaking of exclusives, The Ramones' classic jam "Sheena Is A Punk Rocker" was covered by Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore and singer Jemina Pearl (from the now defunct Be Your Own Pet). Their version exclusively premiered in this past week's episode of Gossip Girl. Love & Rockets made the episode too...though not as an exclusive.

Other Notable Licensing News:

On the tube, One Tree Hill had songs by Ra Ra Riot and Margot & the Nuclear So-So's; 90210 had Florence & The Machine, The Raconteurs, and The Bravery; Grey's Anatomy had The Bird And The Bee, Whitest Boy Alive, and Brett Dennon.

M83's "You, Appearing" provides a solemn background to a French commercial for Douleurs' "Pain Without Borders" commercial. Watch the video below. M83 is currently on a tour of the US (and in NYC this week).

Cadbury's new "Favourites" commercial features the song "Stars and Sons" by Canadian supergroup Broken Social Scene. Watch the video below. Pics from the band's recent show at the Brooklyn Masonic Temple can be seen HERE.

Gigantour has cancelled their April 24th date in Worcester, Massachusetts.... but, every single band ON Gigantour added another date to make up for it - April 25th (one day later)... in Worcester, Massachusetts. All the Gigantour band performances will now instead be part of day one of the New England Metal & Hardcore Festival! Thats right.... Megadeth, In Flames, Job For A Cowboy, Children Of Bodom, and High On Fire will meet up with almost 70 other bands including headliners Dimmu Borgir, Shadows Fall, Behemoth, Ministry, Meshuggah, and Nevermore during the three day festival (Full band list below). Tickets ($47.50 for Fri, $45 for Sat or Sun or $129 for all three) go on sale this Friday, Feb 15th at 10AM via enterthevault.com,tickets.com, or by phone at 800-477-6849.

That doesn't do it for ya? Prefer your bands with "f*ck" in their name? How about the Maryland Deathfest? Along with bands like Torsof*ck and F*ck... I'm Dead, you can check out monsters like the mighty Anaal Nathrakh (their only US appearance scheduled for this year) Repulsion, Disfear, Grave, Impaled, and thrash legends Nuclear Assault. Tickets can be purchased here. (Full band list and set times below)

Maybe a deathfest sounds too tame, you like your festival with a little more zazz. How about a murderfest? The LA Murderfest to be exact, taking place in Los Angeles, CA @ The Knitting Factory in Hollywood from April 18th - April 20th. The Converge/Baroness/Red Chord/Genghis Tron extravaganza will be in the hiz-ouse, along with NH's own Trap Them, Vital Remains, and vegetarian superheroes Cattle Decapitation. Honestly, can you really argue with the tagline "2 stages + 3 days = Total Brutality"?

Don't live in those towns? Too lazy to travel to them? Irrational fear of mechanized transportation? Luckily, a few killer bands will be swinging through a town near you on the Summer Slaughter 2008(dates TBD, starting in June)..... bands like The Black Dahlia Murder, Kataklysm, Vader, Cryptopsy, and Whitechapel! Other dates and lineups below....